Crucianize

Tag: beauty

  • Identifying my curl patterns

    Welcome back!

    Today I’m going to talk about one of the most common topics of discussion in the Natural hair community, curl patterns.

    To be honest I’ve never given it much thought at all because I have more than one type of pattern of you go by the chart that seems to be everywhere.

    This chart right here:

    According to this chart, the front of my head is a mix of 2c and 3a, the middle is a mix of 3b and 3c, the very back of my head is 4a. Like I said before I have a lot of curl patterns.

    The curl patterns aren’t that important though, it’s the porosity of the hair or so I’ve been told.

    My hair is low porosity and coconut oil is supposed to be really good for this type of hair but I can’t use coconut anything or my hair will become very brittle and break horrendously.

    Having hair that dislikes Coconut with a passion is kind of difficult, to be honest because so many hair products geared towards Afro hair have it in it. There are so many highly favored cult favorites that I just can not use.

    I’ve begun to disregard all the suggestions that have been thrown my way because what works for one person’s hair doesn’t work for everyone, sometimes you just have to find what your hair loves.

    My hair loves Argan, Avocado, Rice water, and Jojoba. I know this because I’ve had favorable results with them.

    When I shaved my head back in 2017 I honestly didn’t know what kind of curl pattern to expect, when I was youngest my mother used the wrong products, and my true pattern was hidden.

    You probably can’t see it well but my hair was like a 2b and almost like a straw broom, to be honest, it’s like when I flat iron my hair and take braids out.

    I’m pretty sure that texture was because my mother used this grease on my hair.

    My hair doesn’t do well with grease at all, it is very heavy and what that does is that it drags my curls down until all you see is limp greasy strands and washing did nothing because as soon as we were done washing my hair with shampoos and conditioners that stripped my hair she would comb it with a fine-tooth comb and it was painful so painful that I’d run away and hide until my hair was pretty similar to a bird’s nest and then the real pain would come when she tried to de-tangle it while it was dry!

    All my life my mother said my hair wasn’t as good as my middle sister’s because I didn’t have curls like her but when she sees my hair now she can’t believe how similar my hair actually is.

    My hair is curly and coily but to maintain this it needs the proper care.

    I’ve developed my own routine and I baby my hair so that I can look at it and feel a sense of pride. My hair is just as good, my hair is my crown.

  • New Gel Micellaire Nettoyant from Le Petit Marseillais

    Hey guys! Today I’m going to sidestep the emotions lol I got a lot of response from it and frankly, I felt overwhelmed and needed to process. I never really meant for it to cast blame on anyone, I just needed to release something that’s been with me for many years. I’m happy to finally let it all out and now I’m going to talk to you about the new Gel Micellaire Nettoyant I bought recently from Le Petit Marseillais.

    In this post, I spoke about how much the scent is similar to the 1 Minute Masque that I recently tested and that this was the first Gel Micellaire that I’ve used. It is pretty different from Eau Micellaire but kind of similar to Milk Make-up removers I’ve used before only in the fact that it’s not a tiny liquid. It was pretty sticky and left my skin feeling a bit heavy almost like I didn’t remove everything. It did work really well and got rid of all the everyday yuck but it’s a bit too heavy for me to use on a daily basis. I think I will leave this for those occasions when I have a full face of makeup on. I haven’t noticed any new breakouts since using this which is always a plus but I’ll be keeping a close eye on my face for the rest of the week.

  • Carrefour Haul!

    Carrefour Haul!

    Coucou !

    Today we went shopping at Carrefour, I really wanted to get some of those press-on nails that they had and see what hair supplies were available but I only accomplished one of those goals.

    There were no press on nails to be found anywhere! But I did manage to get the entire line of Garnier Ultra Doux Richesse D’Argan as well as some other things.

    Since my move here this line has been my holy staple and it is very hard to get my hands on all the products when I need them. They fly off the shelves so fast!

    I also picked up Garnier Ultra Doux L’huile Merveilleuse aux huiles d’argan et de camélia which is also another one of my favorites, if I’m not using abierto one of Garnier’s oils. You can probably tell I adore Garnier’s products. What can I say? They work really well for my hair and they are inexpensive.

    My last purchase was a Gel Micellaire Nettoyant from Le Petit Marseillais.

    Gel Micellaire Nettoyant Fraîcheur de Rose

    I’ve used Eau Micellaire from Cien which I’ve spoken about here and Eau Micellaire from U which I’ve also briefly spoken about here. This is my first time using a Gel Micellaire and I’m really interested in seeing what the difference is. The scent is the same as the 1 Minute Masque of theirs that I recently used and spoke about here.

    All in all, it was a pretty good haul and didn’t cost that much money.

    If you’re lucky you can find all these products at your local Carrefour and you don’t have a Carrefour in your location then you might be able to find one of two items at a Super U, Lidl, Netto, or other supermarché. You can also try looking on Amazon, I can’t guarantee that the price will be pocket-friendly though.

    And now I leave you to do some reading.

    Talk to you later!

  • Dry Shampoo for Natural Hair

    Hey everyone!

    As you guys may or may not know I shaved off all my relaxed hair two years ago and let my natural hair grow in. Let me tell you it was quite an adventure.

    While I enjoy my hair in its natural state I wash my hair quite often and it’s getting expensive continuously buying Shampoo, Conditioner, Deep Conditioner, and Leave-in Conditioner. Hair oil can last me a few months so there’s no problem on that front.

    I keep seeing reviews of Dry Shampoo and some of them have not gotten very good reviews from other women of color. The one that did have good reviews was the DevaCurl No-Poo Original Zero Lather Conditioning Cream it’s not exactly a Dry Shampoo but it seems the Quick Cleanser is no longer available. This poses a problem for me because of 1. DevaCurl not shipping to France and 2. Buying it on the French Amazon is expensive as hell DevaCurl No-Poo-Cleanser. On the DevaCurl website, the cleanser is just $10, and Amazon.fr it is 38,00€ which is a $32.97 increase. I understand importing can be expensive but $32.97?!

    With DevaCurl out of the running I turned to Dry Shampoos that would be readily available in the stores around me, they include the likes of Batiste, Garnier Ultra Doux, and U by Super U.

    Yes, I live in a very small town and our offerings are very limited!

    I was not going to pick up any Batiste because of all the reviews I’ve seen where it does nothing but makes natural hair greasy and leaves a white residue. That left me with Garnier Ultra Doux and U by Super U, I’m well acquainted with the brands having used Shampoo, Conditioner, Leave-in Conditioner, and Deep conditioner from both the Ultra Doux line and U by Super U, I’ve also used hair oil, Micellaire water, and facial moisturizers by U.

    With this in mind, I think I will buy both the Garnier Ultra Doux Dry Shampoo and the U by Super U to test out which one I like better.

    What about you? Do you have a brand of Dry Shampoo that you like?

    Leave a comment to let me know!

    Until next time!

  • What I Use To Keep My Skin So Smooth

    I am not affiliated in any way with Cien or Lidl, I was not given these products to review or offered a reward for my review.

    I was recently complimented on my clear skin, to be honest, I have never had much issue with my skin, one or two pimples over the years, my main problem is my raccoon eyes but they are hereditary so not much I can do about it except try to find a really good concealer.

    Even if I’ve never had to battle bumps on my face I still try to take care of it, one of the first things I did when moving here was to find a good facial wash and moisturizer, I was not used to the cold and it was proving to me that I needed moisture more than anything in this unforgiving temperature, my husband bought me a Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse set that included a small bottle of bath oil, multipurpose oil, a candle, and hydrating cream. 

    These items served me well for a few months but I had run out and Nuxe is not the cheapest product to buy especially when you have a really small income. I needed something but I had no idea what to buy so I asked a friend what she used, her answer was Nuxe lol but she also mentioned that there was a line of products by Lidl called Cien and she had heard good things about it, Lidl, if you don’t know, is a German global discount supermarket chain, based in Neckarsulm, Germany, that operates over 10,000 stores across Europe and the United States. There is a Lidl very close to my home and it is very affordable so I decided to give it a try.

    I picked up the Crème Hydrante Aqua for 2,99€

    • Made with Glycerol and Pantherol.

    This cream will deeply moisturize your skin and protect it from the harmful effects of the sun thanks to its UV filter. Its formula is without mineral oils which allow for better absorption of the cream, without leaving a greasy effect, it promotes the oxygenation of the skin.

    • Essential protection for all skin types.
    • No added Mineral Oils.

    A great success and a recognized quality that allowed him to be acclaimed by a jury of consumers during the 12th Victoires de la Beauté.

    I also picked up the Aqua Rich Gel Nettoyant for a little under 2€.

    • For clean and fresh skin.
    • For Normal and Mixed skin.

    Lastly, I picked up the Eau Micellaire Refraichissment for a little under 2€.

    • Facial Cleanser
    • Makeup Remover
    • Refreshing              

    Now, this was my first time using a Micellar Water I don’t know if it’s usual for it to leave your face feeling dry but this one does that, I always put on some of the moisturizers after using this, it works really well for removing makeup and I especially love that it’s a pump bottle I just have to press my cleansing pad down on the tip and the product comes up and wets my cleansing pad, this bottle design leads to less product wastage and one bottle can last you a pretty long time.  

    I’ve been using these products for a year and a half now and I think they do their jobs very well, my face has never been more smooth or soft, if I don’t moisturize around my nose it can get pretty dry but not with these products. In total, I think all the products came up to less than 7€.  

    If you’re in France and don’t have a lot of money to spend or just like a good bargain I’d highly suggest buying these products from Lidl.

  • Finding happiness in the little things

    You know that feeling when you open your mailbox and there’s something in there with your name on it? I don’t really experience that feeling, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve ever received anything, I don’t really order anything online, I’ve gotten some books in the mail, some clothes as well but that’s about it. Every time I go out to the box I am not really expecting anything but still feel a little disappointed that everything is for my husband, he gets packages all the time, sometimes I have to sign for them and that is a tale for another day.

    So imagine my joy when I opened my mailbox yesterday and inside was a package with my name on it, I was overjoyed, I ripped it open with quickness and inside was a box that said Marc Jacobs Beauty. Let me back up just a bit and tell you about this package. I’ve been a member of a website called Influenster (it’s a website that sends you products to test for your honest review) I think it’s been about three to four years, so right around the time when I was pregnant, if you’re new to my blog I suffered from Hyperemesis Gravidarum (severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy) which basically made me an invalid for nine months, I then went through postpartum depression and post-traumatic stress disorder which lasted for about a year. In 2015, I moved from my Caribbean home and went through a series of terrible events. The loss of my puppy, finding out my mother was in the hospital, I was taking punches left and right but the worst one was losing my second baby. What should have been the happiest time of my life was stained with dark spots that I couldn’t find a way out from. 

    I’ve always been weak to dark moods and Expat depression added itself to my growing pile, while I always seemed to find myself out of my foul moods this one seemed enormous. What helped was finally being able to talk to my mother online, she hates the internet but there was no other way for us to communicate. My days seemed a little sunnier, one of my brothers who had a distaste for social media also joined and I found myself happy.

    I got off-topic, my apologies, I can ramble on and on sometimes, anyway I was very sick and couldn’t do much with my Influenster account so it laid dormant for years. This year I decided to get more active on it, I reviewed products I had already used, I answered questions, I followed accounts, I was enjoying myself, out of nowhere I got a survey asking if I wanted to be sent a product to review, I answered yes and about two weeks later I got a message saying I was chosen!

    I was thrilled, along with no interest in my Influenster account I hadn’t been using my makeup kit much, so I relished the chance to go back to something that gave me a little joy in life, I’m nowhere near to being MUA status, not even close I just enjoy enhancing my features. I have to be honest when I say my happiness was wearing off a bit when I saw everyone else reviewing their VoxBoxes and I was still without my product, see the way my mind works it immediately jumped to the worst scenarios, I swore my box got lost or someone stole it, I questioned whether I put the right address in, my mind was whirling and then yesterday there it was.

    Disbelief and exhilaration, I wanted to do everything right to make sure I did the review right and they would choose me again.

    Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Mascara Volume Spectaculaire VoxBox 

    Testing out my new mascara.

    A little eyeliner and mascara make me feel pretty!

    I’ve been testing the mascara now for three days and have to say that I’m pretty much in love with it, the mascara goes on smoothly and gives an instant boost to my lashes, and let’s not joke about it but my lashes are not the best, they are short, thin, and not at all impressive which is why I was shocked to see how long and luscious it got from the mascara. There is just one thing I don’t care for about the mascara, it is on the heavier side, if I use three swipes of mascara my lashes will clump horribly so what I did to fix this issue was to go over it with another mascara brush, I was able to separate the lashes to fully enjoy the length and dark color the mascara provided.

    In the picture above I applied the mascara to just my right eye and you can see for yourself the difference the mascara has made to my pitiful lashes. I don’t think I will ever leave the house again without using my Velvet Noir mascara even if I use nothing else.